I am writing my narrative essay about the first time I ever put on football pads and started hitting. It also tells how it helped relieve my anger as a youth.
I was in 4th grade and needed a way to release my childish anger. My sister’s father was a Pop Warner football coach in Richmond Hts. He asked me if I wanted to play football, and reluctantly I said yes. Honestly I was afraid of football contact, yet I gave it a try anyway. I feared getting hurt. After I got fitted for equipment, I started to run sprints with the team. The coaches understood that it was my first time ever playing a contact sport. They made me start on defense. Coach using hitting pads so I could get used to tackling, and understanding the fundamentals of the game. Eventually, by my second week of practice they introduced me to the plays that we would on the defensive side of the ball and put me at the linebacker position. Quickly,I began to grasp the plays and showed the natural instinct to read what type of plays the offense might run. All the coaches praised me on how good I was beginning to become. After about 2 weeks I was given
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I knew that I couldn’t throw dirty hits or taunt and show any unsportsmanlike conduct. Yet I still got my dirty hits out every once and awhile. I also got hit often with dirty hits because of my size. On the opposite side at left outside linebacker was my friend Derrick. His nickname was “Tank”, which was an immense paradox. Tank was even smaller than me. We were one of the best combinations of linebackers the coaches had ever seen. Our small stature and aggressive pursuit of every possible tackle we could get into our stat line made us almost unstoppable. Yet, we got too far ahead of ourselves. The dual threat that we had become also had its disadvantages. Teams started to scheme against us. It messed with our heads, and we started going buckwild without remembering the
Since football’s inception, it has been considered a manly sport. Young boys have been encouraged by their parents to participate in the game. For many boys, it is considered a rite of passage. However, football is a dangerous sport. A study conducted by the Center for Injury Research and Policy found, “an estimated 5.25 million football-related injuries among children and adolescents between 6 and 17 years of age were treated in U.S. emergency departments between 1990 and 2007. The annual number of football-related injuries increased 27 percent during the 18-year study period, jumping from 274,094 in 1990 to 346,772 in 2007” (Nation 201). These reported injuries include sprains and strains, broken bones, cracked ribs, torn ligaments, and concussions. A concussion usually happens when a player takes a hard hit to the head or is knocked unconscious on the playing field, and if not diagnosed and treated quickly, a concussion can result in death.
Growing up, from the time I started my first day of class until walking across my hometowns football field to receive my diploma I never had thought that I let something define the person that I have become today. However, being presented with this essay I have come to the realization that football has defined me as a person. I don’t mean to say that the sport has had this much of an impact on me, I’d rather like to think that the memories associated with the sport has made an everlasting impact on my life.
When I was beginning high school as a freshman, I searched for an activity that I could participate in. I was looking to meet new people and hoping to be accepted by other students. I was willing to do anything for their acceptance. At the beginning of the school year a football meeting was announced, although I had never played football before, I decided to attend the meeting. From the day of that initial meeting, I will be in love with the game for the rest of my life. I learned of the consequences involved with participating in a full contact sport such as football. Many people ask if football is worth the risk for high school athletes. I decided that for me the benefits outweigh the risks.
From bright lights, big hits, and postgame interviews, to television commercials, team comradery, and multimillion-dollar deals. What comes next? Depression. Memory loss. Suicide. It’s not a strict protocol that fits every mold, however, the future lifestyle of a former player in the National Football League consists of constant medical exams and the inability to “access your entire brain” (Weller 47). Football has consistently had issues with head injuries no matter what level it is being played at and the NFL is a league filled with violent collisions from some of the world’s most athletically gifted players. Players are progressively being diagnosed with significant brain trauma due to the size and athleticism of the players in a game that is constantly evolving in terms of the speed and velocity at which these humans are colliding. But “can we make it more of an Indy 500 and less of a demolition derby?” (King 6). “Players are too fast and too strong to think they can hit each other in the head over and over and think they’ll keep walking away unharmed” (4). The effects of the collisions are far more impactful than the instant headache the player
Freshman year of football almost drove me to quit football. The coaches drove us harder and made us work our tails off. That year taught me to work even harder than before. My sophomore year was even more taxing than the year before, trying to show the coaches that I belong and that I will try to beat the upperclassmen in anything that I could. Junior year I didn’t get to play varsity and that drove me to work even harder to get a starting spot for my senior year. By the time I got to my junior year, I finally got out of my comfort zone and I wouldn’t just take a hit, I would deliver one. And when senior year rolled around I finally got a starting spot on the varsity offense. I finished my senior season with one catch for thirty eight yards. High school football taught me to trust people; coaches, teammates, and friends. Without them none of it would have happened.
I loved everything about the sport, knew everything about the sport, and simply wanted to be physically involved with the sport. I signed up for my local football organization and greatly anticipated the start of the season. My first season our team finished undefeated, winning each game with ease. I played offensive line and enjoyed every play, finally being a part of the sport I loved. My coach at the time admired my hard work and dedication, repeatedly telling my fellow teammates that we should all aspire to have a work ethic such as my own. At the end of the season, my coach suggested I practice to become a quarterback. A quarterback is usually one of the skinniest players on the team, a trait I certainly didn't have. If I were to be a quarterback, I would have to lose at least thirty pounds and practice almost every day until the next season. As crazy as the suggestion seemed to me at the time, I gladly accepted the challenge and almost instantly began to work to become the best quarterback I could
My 8th grade year around the month of February people were starting to recognize spring football was right around the corner. I was a middle school stud says most coaches I played bandit and sometimes safety full time. Tine seemed to fly faster and faster day by day the team was coming ! Spring had finally come and walking on the I was a pretty favorable upcoming freshman by coaches and players. The first couple of practices were great I never known so much went into high school football but I eventually found out. My knee was hurting a lot my 7th grade year because of ball that
If I were to do this coursework again, I would try and get a more even
Sadly, my family was going through financial struggles, forcing me out of the school zone I was destined to attend. When I discussed the situation wih the high school coaches they told me they would pick me up from my new house and take me to school every day; with the condition that I’d play football for them all throughout high school. Even though this was illegal I continued to go ahead and accept the offer. My first year of high school was so exciting that it went by in the blink of an eye. Sophomore year came and the clock ticked closer and closer to when everything would change. I started in varsity as a corner back but soon would have big shoes to fill as the team’s quarterback. Not only did this require skill and hard work but the ability and qualities of a leader as well. Ultimately, playing this position helped me acquire traits that would soon be necessary for success. That year was tough for us because the majority of the team consisted of inexperienced players, however the coaches knew I would be the one to lead the
Before the start of the game I was told to guard their best receiver because nobody else could keep up with him. Even though i was fast, I was definitely not as fast as him. He was like lightning, speeding past me and making quick, subtle turns that were hard to predict. I was so tired from guarding him all game that by the end of the first half I felt like collapsing. When they hiked the ball, I made sure that I tried my best to stop him from getting the ball. Without failing to surprise me, he predicted my next move and feinted left and then turning right. I fell for the trick, and his quarterback threw the ball to him. He caught it and started running down the field. I sprinted after him. I put the rest of my energy into this run. As I got closer and closer to him, an idea formed in my head. When I got close enough I would dive for his flag, hoping to pull it before he reached the end zone. It was not a very intelligent idea, but it could’ve worked. When I was almost touching him, I dove. I missed the flag by millimeters. As I hit the ground I heard a loud ‘POP’ in my shoulder. Instantly I knew that I had broken a
In the book entitled Out of Their League, David Meggyesy describes his life as a football player from high school through his days with the St. Louis Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). Born in 1941, Meggyesy was raised in a low-income household in Solon, Ohio. Like many athletes from impoverished backgrounds, he was able to use the game of football to better himself though both a full scholarship to Syracuse University and financial stability with the Cardinals. During his career, however, Meggyesy became increasingly disillusioned with the game of football and how its athletes were subject to tremendous physical and psychological turmoil from those in power—namely the coaches and the NFL team owners. He began to see the game of football from a conflict theorist point of view. This is the belief that sport is an opiate used to benefit those in power through the exploitation of athletes which enables those such as coaches and team owners to maintain their power and privilege in society. (Coakley, 1998) Meggyesy's growing disenchantment with football and adoption of a conflict theorist point of view led him to retire from the Cardinals in 1969.
A year later, I was again chosen for the team. This time, I worked my way from being a back-up catcher to the starting 3rd baseman in two weeks. But after going 0-2 in my first two at-bats, my coach took me out of the starting line-up. Again, I pinch-hit, and was very successful at it. I even hit what turned out to be a game-winning homerun. We later reached the championship game again, but we lost it for the second time. This time I was more frustrated than I could ever remember being. I was slamming my hand into walls and almost crying. I was really acting very childish.
Hard checks, high-impact hits, rough blows, knockouts, crushing tackles; some violence occurs naturally in some sports. Those naturally violent sports (e.g., football, hockey, soccer, wrestling, and boxing) with all that aggression and violence excites audiences and enhance enjoyment. However, aggression and violence in sporting competitions are clearly becoming an issue. Destructive aggression is often deliberate and frequently encouraged by coaches, spectators, and teammates. This aggression in becoming increasing accepted by the public and ever popular in today’s sporting events. Michael Strahan a player in the NFL said in 2007 that, “It’s the most perfect feeling in the world to know you’ve hit a guy just right, that you’ve maximized the physical pain he can feel….. You feel the life just go out of him. You’ve taken all this man’s energy and just dominated him” (Coakley, 2008). Clearly, Strahan’s words show the acceptance of aggressive behavior and even glorify this aggression.
For as long as I can remember football has been a part of my life in some way, shape, or form. When I was first born my grandfather said that I was solid and built to play football. I used to throw the football with my mother when I was a toddler and she always told me that when I tried to tackle her I hit really hard. My first organized football experience was when I was five. I had just moved to Manassas, VA from Washington, D.C. in 1994. It was around fall and that was right at the beginning of football season in the area. I remember telling my mother that I wanted to play, so she looked for a local organization for children. She came across the Greater Manassas Football League (GMFL) and that is where I began to play the game I love.
I 've played soccer my whole life since I was three and have loved it every single year. I played on a non-comp team for the longest time which was a bad idea coming into high school ball. When I got to high school soccer everything changed. Soccer was so much different. I remember my first game first play i had the ball I got hit and i looked at my dad and he kinda shrugged. It took alot to learn how to play at this new level. I worked hard through freshman, sophomore, and junior year. Then came senior year. The season came around and my coach, coach fletcher, had big expectations for me. I suffered through soccer conditioning and lost a few pounds from it. But i 'm getting ahead of myself. the spring season before school ball was my biggest nightmare. I started out the season good. had a goal. But then it happened, I broke my collarbone, again. This time was my worst time yet. I was put as foward to let our forwards have a break. I don 't usually play here. I started out the half with a few opportunities but then the perfect ball was sent over by my defender. He sent the ball over and I took off. I ran as fast as lightning after that ball. I brought my foot back to take a shot and BAM!! I got hit with a shoulder from behind. I fell and felt a snap. I broke my collar bone for the 4th time. So I had to miss out on the rest of the season that spring. I came back for school ball and